wxboy:If through some shocking twist nobody hits it on Saturday, it will almost certainly go over $1b for Wednesday. Heck, it could easily make it to $750m before Saturday.

If I won that much, I'd make a public announcement that I'd donate half of it to the state, if the governor, both senators and every house rep agreed to resign and stay away from politics for 10 years.

2xhelix:wxboy: If through some shocking twist nobody hits it on Saturday, it will almost certainly go over $1b for Wednesday. Heck, it could easily make it to $750m before Saturday.

If I won that much, I'd make a public announcement that I'd donate half of it to the state, if the governor, both senators and every house rep agreed to resign and stay away from politics for 10 years.

Just make sure you get it in legally binding docs, and payable in installments over the 10 years.

Given the odds against winning, it's stupid to go out and dump all your money into a shiatload of tickets. If you are going to play, buy a single ticket. Don't try to increase your chances with more tickets because it doesn't make a significant difference. You're shooting for the statistical outlier, aka, a farking miracle.

I want to win just so I can answer that question the reporter always asks. "What are you going to do with the money?" The answer, "buy my very own senator."

2xhelix:wxboy: If through some shocking twist nobody hits it on Saturday, it will almost certainly go over $1b for Wednesday. Heck, it could easily make it to $750m before Saturday.

If I won that much, I'd make a public announcement that I'd donate half of it to the state, if the governor, both senators and every house rep agreed to resign and stay away from politics for 10 years.

Ambivalence:I bought one, but in my defense I never buy more than one. My thinking is if I am meant to win I only need one ticket.

I'm not sure whether i agree with you or not. I can see it both ways. On one hand you limit the amount of money you spend but on the other hand you also limit the amount of chances you have to win. There is no decisive answer. It is just so hard to choose!

Exactly. I can afford to waste 10 bucks once a year when it gets this high.

I think about it the same way I think about going through twenty bucks on nickel slots at the casino: it's entertainment, no more, no less. I don't figure I'll win the mortgage, but if it happens, cool.

It is weird that some of the more immediate plans I have on winning that involve giving some of the money to someone else (helping someone who runs a local camp get her own campground and a few years of operating costs, for instance, because they are FREAKING AMAZING and would do an amazing job. I'd see it as more of an investment than anything else...)

lenfromak:2xhelix: wxboy: If through some shocking twist nobody hits it on Saturday, it will almost certainly go over $1b for Wednesday. Heck, it could easily make it to $750m before Saturday.

If I won that much, I'd make a public announcement that I'd donate half of it to the state, if the governor, both senators and every house rep agreed to resign and stay away from politics for 10 years.

The state will take half regardless.

Where is it, Ontario where provincial Lotto winnings are tax-free? That's a pretty decent model as far as I'm concerned. Since the state is already keeping a known percentage of the betting pool ("for education/kids/senior/lame iguanas"), why do they also get to grab some of MY part if I win? Far as I can tell, they already got their cut up front from everybody.

Which is exactly what the headline states. Reading comprehension:.it only works if you know how to use it.

No, you now stand exactly the same chance of not winning as you did before, which is NOT what the headline states. You're bad at reading AND math, I dread to see how bad your writing is.

The headline says you now have a greater chance of not winning a specific amount. It does not say you have a greater chance of not winning at all.

Headline is still wrong though. Since I have a very small chance of winning 550 million dollars Saturday, my odds of winning 550 million dollars are much higher than back when it was estimated to be 475 million.